Poppy Seed Snaps (or Sesame Seed Snaps)

My grandmother often baked with poppy seeds and she made something very similar to these snaps for Purim. If you’re not a huge fan of poppy seeds or want to try something different, you can substitute sesame seeds or finely chopped, toasted nuts.

48 ServingsServings

Ingredients

2 cup poppy seeds

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 pinch salt

Preparation

Heat the oven to 350°F degrees. Spread the poppy seeds out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Toast the seeds for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside. (If you are using sesame seeds, toast them for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.)
Combine the sugar, honey, water and lemon juice in a medium-size pot over medium heat. Mix together and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 325°F and has turned golden brown. Remove pot from heat.

Add the poppy seeds and salt to the pot and stir through, until evenly distributed. Pour onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and working quickly, use a spatula that you've sprayed with vegetable oil to spread the mixture out evenly. Try to spread it out into a rectangle, about 1/8" thick. Set aside for 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes pass, use a sharp knife to cut through the candy. I like to trim the uneven edges off, then cut the candy into 4 long rows, and then each row into 6 squares. Then cut each square in half diagonally, forming triangles. Let cool completely.

Once cooled, snap the triangles apart and store in air-tight bags or containers.